A Saudi film producer has begun preparations for a film detailing the “crimes of the Assad regime,” in the wake of a Syrian film slamming the founder of the kingdom.
The newspaper Al-Jazeera said Mohammad Qahtani, who is based in Cairo, had completed the initial preparations for the project, which is tentatively entitled “The Jackass.”
Qahtani told the newspaper that his project would likely begin filming early next year in Egypt, Turkey and Lebanon, and have a budget of approximately $8 million.
Qahtani, the paper said, has yet to settle on a director or actors for the project, although a number of actors from several Arab countries have expressed an interest in taking part.
Qahtani acknowledged that his project came as a reaction to the release of “King of the Sands, a negative portrayal of the founder of Saudi Arabia, King Abdel-Aziz al-Saud.
The director of “King of the Sands,” Syria’s Najdat Anzour, has received death threats over the film, which debuted earlier this month.
